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Silas Bartholomew Ritchie |
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Artist Statement : SiRealism
The world of SiRealism weaves itself between the real and the imagined. The landscapes are alien yet somehow familiar. Human civilization is present, but humanity is not. The animals are real but out of place. Though I don't put people in my paintings, I use animal symbolism as a way of putting a human finger print on the work.I paint with acrylics to put more focus on texture and color, using realistic images in a surreal context. There is an aloof cheerfulness whimsically imbued into the brush strokes, and also a manic darkness dormant in the shadows begging for further examination. I want the emotional impact of my work to hit you outright, while the intellectual subtext remains an undercurrent, not necessarily ever surfacing to the forefront of your understanding of the piece. I feel that a person's interpretation of the art completes the artistic experience, so I want to leave room for your own conclusions.
Bio
Silas B. Ritchie was born May 29th 1985 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. In first grade he won a fifth place ribbon in an all city art contest,1st-12th grade, for a drawing called "Circle Dance." He continued taking art classes throughout high school and won a statewide Scholastic Gold key award in his junior year for a print he made of an etching called "Dormant Dachshund," which was presented to him at an awards ceremony at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The piece was exhibited along with the other winners. He continued to create art after high school focusing on acrylic painting. Silas moved to Silver City New Mexico for a year where, in 2006, he had a showing of his paintings, along with others, at Rejuvenations coffee shop. He relocated to Madison in 2008. In April 2011 he was part of a collaborative art show, called "Present Situation," at the Evolution Arts Cooperative. His first solo art show was at The Anaba Tearoom and ran from January - March, 2012. Besides acrylic painting he also does watercolors, photography, and makes music and videos.For the last 2 years he has been waiting to receive a double lung transplant which he received in June 2013. The year prior to that he had another collaborative art show with the same creative partner as he worked with on Present Situation, Dale Kaminski. The show was called Bump on a Line and was a daily practice in mindfulness, as they would take a moment out of every day to acknowledge time passing while taking a photograph, for a period of time. This was meant to reflect a narrative about waiting for Silas to receive a CALL for his transplantation surgery. The show was Dale's MFA thesis show. Then in 2013 they got to reprise the show, post transplantation within a different setting, the UW medical Student Library. They approached the transplant clinic with the idea and it was well received, green lighted as a go, and given a budget. The show is going up on September 25th, 2013 and will run through December 13th, 2013.